A Horrible Burden
by Horsetamer5
Summary: A teenage Loki must deal with the aftermath of his capture by the Chitauri Please Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

A Horrible Burden

Author's note: My first Fanfic, so please be nice. Also, Loki is a teenager in this story.  
Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers

It was a cold night in New Mexico. A thick blanket of fog shielded the stars and moon from view, turning the normally hot desert into a cold, black, abyss. The only lights for miles were the headlights of a small, Chevy truck, rumbling through the desert night.  
Thor Odinson looked at the clock on the truck's dashboard, 2:45 am; Good, he thought, we have time. Looking over to the passenger seat, he watched his younger brother, Loki, fast asleep, dead to the world. Sadly, a peaceful sleep was very rare for the young man, nightmares about his captivity and subsequent mind control by the Chitauri, plagued his sleep. Many nights, Loki awoke in a cold sweat, disoriented and screaming, terrified of falling back into the clutches of those monsters. Their mother and father decided that it would be safest for Loki to remain on Earth, rather than return to Asgard. Although it was called "The Realm of The Gods," Asgard's forces were not impenetrable, as was proven when the Chitauri had abducted Loki while he and his friends played on the Bifrost. As a result, the Allfather commanded that, for Loki's protection, he and Thor would remain on Midgard and evade the detection of the did this by moving from Stark Tower, in New York, to Galisteo, New Mexico, to stay with Thor's girlfriend, Jane Foster. As Thor stared out at the open expanse of road, he whispered to himself, "This is no way for a boy of 16 to be living, he should be home on Asgard, with mother and father, oblivious to the horrors of the universe. He should be playing with his friends and studying his magic, not worrying about the fact that he was forced to commit horrible atrocities because of the torture and mind control those animals put him through. What did he ever do deserve the weight of that horrible guilt and shame that he must now bear?" Thor asked out loud, there was no response, just the soft, click,click,click, as the truck shifted gears.

Loki stared out the window and sighed, he had just been getting used to his new school, just starting to think that he might actually get to have actual friends, and get to just be a normal 16 year old boy. However, that all changed, when Thor woke him up in the dead of night, saying that they had to leave Stark Tower again, he didn't say why, no one ever told Loki why they always had to move. So, Loki watched another chance at having a normal life, disappear in a cloud of dust.  
Thor was startled out of his daze by his brother's voice asking "where are we going?"  
"I called Jane," Thor responded we are going to stay with her until it is safe to return to Stark Tower."  
"Does that mean that I have to start school again ?"Loki asked " I hate restarting because I'm always behind on what they're doing or studying, also,because we are always moving, I never get to make any friends." he complained "I miss Asgard , I miss Mother and Father , and all my friends." Loki finished sadly.  
"I know," Thor responded gently, " we will return home eventually, however, right now it is not safe for us. The Chitauri are still a threat and it would be easy for them to abduct you again if you were in Asgard, they slipped through our defenses once, who says they won't attempt to again. They are masters at disguise , they slipped past Heimdall and were able to take you, the AllFather was powerless to stop them." Thor paused , then reached over and pulled Loki into a one armed hug, " we all just want to prevent history from repeating itself and to keep you as safe as humanly possible." Thor continued as he gently pressed a kiss to his brother's head " Things will go back to normal soon, you will see, brother."


	2. Chapter 2

A Horrible Burden

Author's note: My first Fanfic, so please be nice. Also, Loki is a teenager in this story.  
Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers

That night, Thor was started out of a dead sleep ,by a loud scream, coming from down the hall, from Loki's room. When Thor stepped through the doorway of his brothers room, he saw three figures already there , Loki,who was curled up in the far corner of the room, sobbing, Jane sat on one side of him rubbing his back and whispering to him, Darcy was on his other side, gently stroking his hair and trying to pry his hands away from over his eyes. Jane seemed to sense Thor's presence and stood up, walking over to him, " We've tried to calm him down some, but nothing seems to work," she whispered, "Why don't you try to talk to him," she suggested "I am going to go get him some water and some of his medication, just in case we can't get him to calm down any other way".  
Thor nodded and walked over to kneel down in front of Loki, reaching out to gently rub his shoulder. When Loki did not respond, Darcy gently whispered to him "Sweetheart, you're safe, you're big brother is here, Jane is here and I'm here . No one is mad at you, we all just wanna help, but we can't do that if you don't talk to us. do you understand ?" she asked kindly.  
Loki nodded and slowly removed his hands from over his eyes, as soon as he saw Thor, Loki threw himself against his older brother and began to sob even harder. Thor, who knew this routine very well by now, stood up , still holding his brother and began to pace around the room, gently reaching up to stroke Loki's hair and back. Slowly, Loki's sobs began to quiet until he was only hiccoughing, resting his head against his brother's chest.  
Once Thor was sure that Loki was calm, he gently asked " Was it that dream again?" Loki nodded, "Do you want to talk about it ?" Loki shook his head and pressed his head closer to his brother's chest.  
Jane came back into the room and handed the glass of water to Thor, "thank you my friends," he said looking at Jane and Darcy, " I think I can handle Loki for the rest of the night, you can both go back to bed if you like."  
"You're welcome," Jane said smiling at Thor, " come on Darcy, we'll see you guys in the morning" she added reaching out to gently rub Loki's back.  
After the girls had left, Thor moved to sit down on Loki's bed , positioning his brother so that he was sitting across his lap. "Here, Loki," Thor said bringing the glass to his brother's mouth, " drink some water, it will make you feel better."  
Loki drank all of the water in the glass, then lay his head against his brother's shoulder, letting the sound of Thor's heartbeat lull him into the dark, oblivion of sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

A Horrible Burden

Author's note: My first Fanfic, so please be nice. Also, Loki is a teenager in this story.  
Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers

The next few weeks passed, without much trouble, until one morning, Loki awoke to a dull pain in his head. Deciding that it was probably a result of another restless night, he climbed out of bed to get ready for school. All through breakfast, the pain in his head seemed to increase; it seemed that the others had noticed, for both Thor and Jane agreed that it would be best for Loki to stay home that day. Both Thor and Jane had to work, so Darcy offered to stay and keep an eye on Loki. While Darcy studied for her Political Science exam, Loki lay down on the couch and quickly fell asleep.  
When Loki woke up again, the pain behind his eyes had increased from dull to blinding. Before he could stop himself, he let out a blood curdling scream. Darcy was next to him in seconds, holding him and asking him what was wrong.  
"My eyes," Loki ground out between gritted teeth, "they hurt like hel-" before he could finish, Loki collapsed into Darcy's arms and began to convulse, all he heard was Darcy say "Oh my god, he's having a seizure," and then, nothing.

The first thing Loki noticed when he came to, was that he wasn't in anymore pain. As he tried to sit up, he felt a warm hand on his shoulder and heard a voice say "easy there, buddy, don't move, I'm just taking a little blood." Looking up, Loki was surprised to see Dr. Bruce Banner, standing above him.  
"Where am I?" asked Loki  
" You're back at Stark Tower," responded Dr. Banner, " Thor and Jane decided it was safer to bring you back here, so that we could figure out what is going on.  
"Ok," Loki said, yawning  
"Why don't you go back to sleep" suggested Bruce, "you look like you need it."  
"I don't want to" Loki said, his voice trembling "I don't want to go back to that place."  
"What if I gave you something to help you sleep?" Bruce asked "would that help?" seeing Loki nod, Bruce grabbed the shot and gently injected it into the boy's arm; within minutes, Loki was fast asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

A Horrible Burden

Author's note: My first Fanfic, so please be nice. Also, Loki is a teenager in this story.  
Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers

" Every scan that I did on him came back normal," Bruce announced to the rest of the team, later that evening. "The brain scan and the blood work all looked just fine."  
"Thor?" he asked suddenly, "has Loki told you anything about his torture by the Chitauri?"  
"No," Thor responded, "My father tried to talk to him once about it, but, Loki became very upset and refused to talk to anyone but me for a long time after that."  
"What do you think is wrong him?" Asked Agent Clint Barton  
" I think that Loki may have PTSD, these 'Seizures' may actually be flashbacks of his torture."  
"He _has_ been showing other symptoms of PTSD," Thor noted, "The nightmares and the way he seems to regress to a younger age when he gets stressed out. It all seems to make sense now"  
Just as Bruce was about to respond, a small voice came from around the corner "Does that mean I'm going crazy?" It was Loki.  
"No, Loki" said Thor gently drawing his brother into an embrace, "It just means that you are sick right now and we need to make you better."  
"Right now," Thor continued lifting Loki into his arms, "It is late and _you_, little brother, need to get to bed."  
"I don' wanna," Loki argued sleepily, "I'm not tired."  
"It's alright Loki," Thor whispered, gently patting his brother's back, "go to sleep, nothing is going to hurt you. I promise."  
Feeling safe for the first time in many months, Loki content with the notion that nothing could hurt him.**  
**


	5. Chapter 5

A Horrible Burden

Author's note: My first Fanfic, so please be nice. Also, Loki is a teenager in this story.  
Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers

_Its just so wrong!_, thought Thor as he carried his sleeping brother to his room. _No person, let alone a child should have to experience what Loki has been through._ Just as Thor was about to put his brother on the bed, Loki began to thrash in his arms.  
"No!" the boy cried out covering his face with his hands , "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do it, please! I'm sorry!" He whimpered.  
"Shh, Loki" Thor soothed, placing a hand on Loki's forehead, "No one is angry at you, you are safe, but I need you to wake up now."  
Suddenly, Loki's eyes flew open, and he began to tremble, his breath coming in rapid gasps.  
"Steve, Bruce!" yelled Thor, "Come quickly!"  
"What is it?" Steve and Bruce asked as they ran into the room.  
"Something is very wrong with Loki" Replied Thor, right at that moment, Loki began to convulse. His whole body tensed up as if he were ready to attack, then the Seizure began, mighty convulsions that wracked the boy's small frame. He breathing began shallow and fast and his eyes rolled back in his head. Bruce went over to the bed to help restrain the him, holding Loki steady and whispering words of comfort to help calm the boy. Thor sat on the bed, holding his brother's hand gently as Steve injected him with a sedative. Almost immediately, the convulsions stopped, Loki's breathing evened out and his eyes rolled back. Thor gently picked up his brother and held him close to his chest. Loki quietly rested his head on his brother's shoulder, both were content to sit like that until they fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

A Horrible Burden

Author's note: My first Fanfic, so please be nice. Also, Loki is a teenager in this story.  
Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers

"He needs to talk about it sooner or later," said Bruce, the next morning.

"Yes, I know that," replied Thor "However, the last time anyone tried to get him to talk about what they did to him, he refused to talk to anyone but me for weeks after."  
"He can't keep having episodes like last night," Bruce argued, "Seizures like that cause brain damage, Thor. The brain scan that I did today showed signs of severe head trauma, if he keeps this up, Loki may soon lose his ability to walk and talk. In the end, it will probably end up killing him."  
"I'll talk to him today," sighed Thor, "although I cannot promise that it will be successful."

Later that day, Thor decided that it was time to try and approach Loki; he found the boy sitting in the floor, playing with his toy cars.

"Hey Loki," Thor said gently, "I need to talk to you about something." At those words, Loki froze, his whole body taught as if he were preparing to bolt, his breathing becoming more rapid. Sensing an oncoming panic attack, Thor gently picked up the boy and sat down on the bed. He gently placed the boy in his lap and began rubbing soothing circles on his back.  
"I know what you are going to ask me about," Loki said, his voice trembling. "I can't talk about it, I just can't! It hurts too much!" He finished, sobbing.  
"Loki," Thor whispered gently, "I just need you to try, Dr. Banner said that if you start to talk about it, the seizures might go away. I promise, you will feel better afterwards, no one can hurt you, you are safe here."  
Loki looked up at his brother and nodded, "I guess I can try," he said quietly and with that, he began._  
_


	7. Chapter 7

A Horrible Burden

Author's note: My first Fanfic, so please be nice. Also, Loki is a teenager in this story.  
Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers

Loki watched Asgard fade into the distance as the Chitauri spacecraft flew to a destination unknown to him. Hours later, he was roughly dragged before the Chitauri leader known as Thanos. He was told that he could either join peacefully or be forced to. He had resisted as long as he could, but they hurt him so badly-  
"Loki, can you hear me?," Thor asked. When he was sure that Loki was listening, he continued, "I'm so proud of you for being able to tell me what happened, you did so good, I love you so much," Thor finished, gently kissing the top of his brother's head. Loki gave his brother a tired smile and rubbed his eyes. Laughing quietly, Thor lifted Loki into his arms ,"I think it is time that you got to bed little brother" he said, settling the boy against his hip, Loki was small for 16 year old and he had lost weight as a result of his capture, this made it easy for Thor to carry him when he was obviously too tired to walk. As he lay Loki down on his bed, Thor gently out a hand on the boy's forehead and whispered "Sleep well, brother."


	8. Chapter 8

A Horrible Burden

Author's note: My first Fanfic, so please be nice. Also, Loki is a teenager in this story.  
Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers

Over the next few months, Loki began to make steady progress. The seizures and nightmares began to diminish. Now, as Thor watched his brother play, he knew for sure that everything would be just fine.

**The End.**

**A/n, If anyone has any ideas for stories that i could write, feel free to pm me.**


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